Geography

Intent

At Jolesfield CE Primary School, our Geography curriculum is inspiring, broad and progressive.  It provides opportunities for all children to develop a life-long love learning about the world.  We aim to inspire in our pupils a curiosity and fascination about our world and its diverse places, peoples and environments.  We want our children to become global citizens with a sense of responsibility for our planet.  Through our Curriculum, Jolesfield children will gain:

• A passion for global knowledge and respect for the planet for the planet and all living things
• Awareness of their own local geography in Partridge Green and West Sussex and how this may compare to other locations and environments nationally or further afield.
• A deep understanding and appreciation of how others live in different parts of the world and appreciation of cultural differences.
• A toolkit of geographical knowledge, skills and vocabulary, including locational facts and mapping/fieldwork skills.

Implementation

Geography teaching and learning at Jolesfield encourages all children to explore our geographical curriculum, ask questions and have opportunities to follow their own interests.  The planning and teaching of geography at Jolesfield ensures the skills and knowledge requirements of the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework are met.

Children in Reception at Jolesfield explore different aspects of the world around them through themed learning and by following their own interests.  A mix of adult-led inputs, often using high quality fiction/non-fiction texts, and child-initiated learning help our pupils work towards their relevant Early Learning Goals in interesting and engaging ways.  Geography is taught via topics in KS1, again often with access to high quality fiction or non-fiction texts to spark children’s interest and enthusiasm.  Geography is taught discretely in KS2 and these topics alternate with history ones.  It is blocked for an afternoon once a week for a half-term and then alternated with history. Key vocabulary and terminology is taught alongside engaging topics.   Outcomes are often cross-curricular and we seek to encourage children to present their ideas creatively.  We encourage children to share their ideas and knowledge about our Geography topics and discuss what they would like to find out.

We enhance our Teaching and Learning by:

• Trips, visits and use of school grounds and local area
• Quality resources and texts
• Staff development to ensure confident and exciting teaching